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The Power of Prosecutors

NCJ Number
308419
Date Published
September 2023
Annotation

In this episode of the Justice Today, Joe Platania, Commonwealth’s Attorney of Charlottesville, Virginia, explains how “prosecutorial discretion” works.

Abstract

This episode of the Justice Today podcast features an interview with Joe Platania, Commonwealth’s Attorney of Charlottesville, Virginia. Platania explains how the process of “prosecutorial discretion” works. Every day, Joe Platania and his office make complex judgment calls that help decide whether people will spend years or even decades behind bars. Platania and his colleagues try to figure out how to keep the community safe while also treating people within the criminal justice system fairly and getting them the treatment and support systems that they need so that they don’t continue to engage in behaviors that bring them into contact with the criminal justice system.